Who out there has them and where did you get them? I've decided that this will be the next big thing to do to my truck, but I really haven't looked into them that much until now.

 

I have a genuine steel brushguard. It looks just like the manik, but about $200 cheaper. So far I've loved it. The only thing I don't like is that the older style genuine steel (like I had in my 98 F-150) used three bolts at the bottom per side (6 bolts total) to hold the brushguard to the bracket, which mounts to the frame. The new version has two bolts per side and then you have a "beam" that connects under the hood. Good for stability, but it doesn't look all that great IMHO. They've got em at 4-wheel parts.

 

Beast,

I have the DeeZee Stainless Steel brushguard. It is suprisingly light, and is very well made. The headlight guards are removable. I bought it used off a guy who had it on his truck. Got it for $500 canadian, about $320 american. He originally paid $1300 canadian for it, so I got an excellent deal. And, I like the stainless steel look on a black truck. I've mounted off road lights to the brush bar, but don't have an up to date pic.

It was a pain in the a** to install, to get it straight and everything, but once it was done, it is solid as a rock!

Like mattadams said, mine used 3 bolts per side and mounted to the bracket for the tow hooks, (you can keep the hooks) and there is another 2 brackets that go between my bumper and the grill to the frame.

Hope this helps,
Jeff

 

Manik on mine...

 

Only one. It's what all the Texas farm boy's use. RanchHand.

www.ranchhand.com

They make a complete front end as well. Take a look at the pics of my SuperDuty. These are not just for looks. The next time you see a truck with a so called "brushguard" walk over and push on the guard. Most likely you can bend it to the truck without much effort. Most brushguards are sectional that are bolted together. Great if you want a light platform only. I felt that with the flimsy plastic infront of my radiator I needed something robust.

My .02

 

Joe543

I have heard a few others talking about these. And I agree with you on those "flimsy", cosmetic brushgaurds. But, does Ranchhand sell em in crome. I am a fan of the shiny stuff.

 

Waturner, no I've never seen them in chrome. I have seen them painted to match various trim colors though.

 

I have a waag on my 01 Screw. Every dealer I contacted sold the waag. A little more expensive, but they look great and there is absolutely no wind noise, even at 90+ . I looked at several, and decided that I wanted a 1 piece welded unit. The waag contours the grill nicely...

www.waag.com

Ken

 

Manik Makes a chrome model, I thinks it's $tainless $teel...

On a side note...the Manik is far from "flimsy".

 

I have a Polar Bear. It's pretty much a knock-off of the Manik design. 3 Bolts per side to mount to the frame bracket. This summer, however, I hit some sand dunes a little too hard (and I attached a tow strap to it) and I ended up with a bent lower bar and a slightly racked brush guard. I spent some time with the local welder and he cut out the tube (very thin from what I expected) and put a thick-wall straight section back in. It gave me more access to the tow-hooks. I am still waiting on my custom skid plate. (The dunes also took a toll on the skid plate and plastic air dam.) The polar bear has a 3 year warranty, but mine already had some rust. It was almost as though there was a problem in the paint booth. It didn't rust at a spot where the paint chipped. Actually where I sand blasted it, the paint was very thick. I put on PPG epoxy primer with PPG enamel over it. That has really held up. Speaking of which I have over a half of a quart of both PPG paints.... I also added some light mounts to it because I didn't like the ones from the factory.

I got the Polar Bear because it was much cheaper than the Manik. I guess it depends on what you want to use it for. Check on the light mounting tabs if you are mounting lights on it. It is for looks? Is $ an issue?

Just my $.02.

 

while my brush guard doesn't seem "flimsy" I know what it's designed for, and it's not to be heavily abused. If I wanted one of those, I'd be getting a ranchhand, etc. but thats not what my F-150 is for, thats what my Explorer is for .
You want ot talk about heavy duty bumpers, heres the bumper I have on my Explorer.

It's a pro-zap. I've banged htat thing to crap and back and it just takes a lickin, keeps on tickin . They no longer make them for Explorers, only the more "heavy-duty" trucks now.

 

I have a Steel Horse black Euroguard from Quadratec. It cost my only $299 plus shipping. It has held up very well - 2 Wisconsin Winters - and is extremely stable I stand on it to wash the front hood. It is also tapped for lights on the front, I have 2-100W KC daylighters. The only bad thing about this brushguard was the fact I had to remove my factory tow hooks. The hooks get in the way of the brushguard brackets.

 

How do Manik one pieces hold up when you toss a Warn winch on em?

 

waturner... I don't think it'll hold up very well. They don't have very thick steel for the mounts.

 

The last thing you would want to do is mount a winch on pretty much any brush guard. That is, unless it was designed for one. Warn winches usualy mount on an engineered platform that ataches between the frame rails. Even on a guard made for winches you are limited to the strength of the mounting points. I have seen guys rip thier bumpers off that had winches directly attached to them. The bolt heads tend to pull through the mounting holes.

My Manik allowed me to retain the stock tow hooks as well. It's hard to see in my picture above, but they are there and accessable. The fit and finish have been perfect, no rust, no bubbling paint. It has held up to some decent knocks, and does what it's designed to do. I don't attempt to pull out tree stumps with it.... I have no problem recommending it to anyone.